Albert Pujols

After a celebrated homecoming, Willie Mays's final season is remembered as a disappointment. Albert Pujols's has been a revelation.

[second game of the World Series](https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK197310140.shtml) against the Oakland Athletics, he displayed both his talent and ebbing skills. I just feel that the people of America shouldn’t have to see a guy play who can’t produce,” he told a packed news conference at Shea Stadium. [ hitting](https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL202207040.shtml) just .189 with a .601 OPS — and trending in the wrong direction. “I’ve always said that I’ll quit when it’s no longer fun for me or no longer any help to the team.” That same day, the city declared “Willie Mays Day” in Manhattan. After a decent start, Pujols [hit .188 in May and .158 in June](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=pujolal01&year=2022&t=b). [ wrote](https://www.scoopswithdannymac.com/bernie-on-the-cardinals-should-albert-pujols-return-in-2023-for-one-more-year/) that Pujols “isn’t embarrassing himself. Mays, 41, had gotten off to a slow start, too, hitting just .184 with San Francisco, but expressed confidence he had something left in the tank. New Yorkers especially missed Mays, who in his final season in the Big Apple led the National League in slugging percentage, stolen bases and triples — a trio of feats that demonstrated his unfathomable combination of speed and power. [sign a 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/albert-pujols-signs-with-los-angeles-angels-outbidding-marlins-and-cardinals/2011/12/08/gIQAYI9ufO_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_16), it crushed many St. Last month, his 1.224 OPS topped all major leaguers with at least 65 plate appearances, as [the Athletic’s Jayson Stark noted](https://theathletic.com/3560421/2022/09/02/albert-pujols-august-2022/?source=user_shared_article). A lifetime .302 hitter who played a peerless center field, Mays hit just .211 with a .647 on-base-plus-slugging percentage that year and famously misplayed a flyball in the World Series.